End of One Era Beginning of Another
by Traci
Summary: The end of the X-Files - I started this prior to any knowledge of the real ending so it's just an alternate ending that is nothing like what really happened. What will John and Monica do now that the XF's are gone?


Disclaimer: UGH! Mine, mine, mine....all mine!!! Sigh, okay in the real world no, they don't belong to me but let's face it, the real world is boring and stressful and who really wants to live in the real world - so in my world they are mine, mine, mine!!! hehehehe.  
  
Category: DRR  
  
Spoilers: Audrey Pauley, pre-William btw.  
  
Summary: The XF's have been closed. Monica Reyes has been transferred back to New Orleans and John must decide if he's going to go back to NY or stay with the FBI.  
  
Author's Notes: I started this when I heard the XF was cancelled but long before we had any information about how they were going to end it (i.e. The Truth) so this actually has nothing to do with the way it really happened - it just took me forever to write it hehehe.  
  
Feedback welcomed at traci_ann@yahoo.com  
  
End of One Era; The Beginning of Another  
  
"So this is it." Agent Monica Reyes stared into the empty basement office that had housed the X-Files division of the F.B.I. for so long.  
  
"Guess so," came a deep reply.  
  
Monica's attention turned to her partner, her now former partner, Agent John Doggett. They had been partners for little over a year but had been friends far longer. She was going to miss him.  
  
"When do you leave for New Orleans?" he asked, his gaze fixed on his empty desk, the one that had formerly belonged to Fox Mulder, the agent who had dedicated his life to uncovering government conspiracies, the same agent who had recently given it all up for his new family, Dana Scully, his partner on the X-Files, and their young son, William.  
  
"Tomorrow morning," Reyes whispered.  
  
Doggett looked at her but she turned her head. "That soon?"  
  
She nodded. "Seems there's a case they want me to get started on." Her eyes met his. "I just found out before I came down here."  
  
"So the transfer's permanent?"  
  
"Looks like it." Swallowing tears, she asked, "What about you?"  
  
"Me? I thought I'd take some time off. Maybe go back to New York."  
  
"You're leaving the FBI?" she asked disbelieving.  
  
"After all we've seen and been through with the X-files somehow I think anything else would be dull."  
  
Monica laughed. "You're probably right." She paused. "You could always... Never mind."  
  
Doggett turned to face her. "I could always what?"  
  
With a blush rising to her cheeks, she shook her head. "Nothing."  
  
"You're not getting away with that easily," he told her.  
  
She smiled and pushed a strand of dark brown hair behind her ear. "Maybe I'll tell you someday."  
  
Grinning back, he slid an arm around her, urging her away from the office. "Come on, let's go celebrate the end of an era."  
  
"Should we call Mulder and Dana?"  
  
"Nah, I'm sure they have their own celebrating to do."  
  
Shoving him gently with her body, she laughed. "You, John Doggett, have a dirty mind!"  
  
"You don't know the half of it," he teased. His arm slid away as they stepped into the basement elevator for the last time.  
  
************  
  
Monica pulled up to the curb in front of John's house. They sat in silence, neither sure what to say.  
  
Hesitantly, Monica reached out and covered John's hand with her own, smiling at him. "What I was going to tell you earlier..."  
  
"Yeah..."  
  
"You could always come to New Orleans." Shyly, she looked down at their hands.  
  
Doggett turned his hand beneath hers till their fingers intertwined. "I hear strange, unexplainable things happen down there."  
  
She looked up at him then laughed. "I think after the X-Files..."  
  
Silence settled around them again.  
  
"So, um, what are you plans for the weekend?" John asked, his eyes focused into the dark through the windshield.  
  
"John, I..." Then she caught on. "Not much, pizza, beer, probably a video."  
  
"Sounds exciting," he responded, grinning at her.  
  
"I think we need pets. Maybe a dog."  
  
His eyes locked with hers. "Seems we've been here before."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
With his other hand, he reached over and entangled his fingers in her dark hair. "Didn't like what happened last time." His heart clutched as he replayed the phone call in his mind. John Doggett? We have your name as a contact. It's Monica Reyes, she's been in an accident..."  
  
"I'll be more careful this time." Before she could say anything more his lips were pressed to hers.  
  
She wrapped her arms around his neck and returned the kiss fully.  
  
Breaking the kiss, John rested his forehead against hers. "I'm not going to make the same mistake twice," he whispered.  
  
"Come to New Orleans with me," she said softly.  
  
Their eyes locked. In that instant they both knew their lives had changed for good. In New Orleans they would be away from the lies and hypocrisy they had lived with for so long. In New Orleans they could make a new start - together.  
  
The End 


End file.
